It’s been quite some time since my last adventure with the digidestined, and they have all grown and matured. I recently got an E-mail from Mimi. She’s moved to America, and she’s changed for the better.... I think. She attached a picture to her e-mail, and the girl’s hair is PINK. Well, pink with sparkles and stuff like that. Oh well, that is the price that one pays for fame. Sora and the gang are all in high school now, and I was glad to hear that there are three new digidestined and three new digimon. One sounds like a mix of Mimi and Izzy... she’s good at computers, but she doesn’t really want to fight. The other is remarkably like TK in youthfulness, but inquisitive and such like Izzy. Kari and TK are both in junior high now, and one of their classmates is the other digidestined. He’s a bit like Tai and a bit like Matt.... scary combination, eh?
     As for me, I’ve graduated from college and I’m wondering what will happen next. Things just haven’t been the same since my trips through time and space. Star hasn’t been the same either. He’s been teaching the other guardians everything that he knows about transformations and such. Oh well, life gets stranger and stranger by the day. I just hope nothing... strange... happens at my LARP at any time in the near future. I mean, it’s medieval and such, with magic and stuff, but if I have to fire off a Dragon Slave then bad things will befall a lot of people.
     The other warriors are doing O.K.. I mean, Adderson is hanging in there. Derek’s in the air force now and is married. Mmhmm, that’s right, da boy has buckled down for the long run. I guess he is so totally in love. I’m thinking that at some point in the future I need to go on another trip through time and space.... see everyone, speak with everyone, hang out with them or something. Gee, maybe I should visit the digidestined first, since Star is acting more like a digimon than a guardian right now.
     I recently heard that there is now an evil emperor in the Digiworld who is a human with awesome powers..... or awesome scientific knowledge. I know that I’m needed there, but can I leave to help? There’s a glowing digivice next to my laptop, and I know that I can get there through my computer. And as I type this, a browser window just opened, the gateway to the Digiworld appearing. I’ll tell you about everything when I get back...

     Oh.... one more thing. You might be wondering how I came across a digivice, since I’m not actually one of the digidestined. You recall my jaunts into the digital world and that whole leap across time and space and all that? Well, following the downfall of Myotismon I was belched across time and space, eventually winding up on the Spooner Continent with the Sorcerer Hunters, Andrew, and Star. I was finally sent home after many adventures there... gotta love traveling through time and space.
     Anyway, I found my digivice quite by accident. The minute I got home I tossed the pants I had been wearing in the wash... and it was attached to the belt, which I didn’t take time to remove from the pants. Well, let’s just say that mom wasn’t too pleased when the washing machine digivolved and had thoughts of taking over the world. She was even less impressed when she found out what Star’s true form was. To top it off, for a third strike, I sorta blew up the washing machine... or as it called itself, “Cleandramon” ^^;
     What color is my digivice, you might be asking. Well, it’s silver and gold, and it sure as hell isn’t one of the new G3’s, but one of the originals. What is my crest? Well, lemme see.... the crest of Light is Kari’s, friendship is Matt’s, courage is Tai’s, hope is TK’s, love is Sora’s, Reliability / Responsibility is Joe’s, Knowledge is Izzy’s, and Sincerity is Mimi’s. The digi eggs are divided among Davis, Yolei, and Cody.... oh, Kari and TK have their own digi eggs, which means that my digimon doesn’t armor digivolve. Actually I don’t have a digimon.... unless you count Star, who we figured is ¼ digimon, ¼ human, and ½ guardian cat. I know that sounds like an odd mix, but heck, this is Star we’re talking about.
     O.K., digiport is open, digivice is glowing, and guardian is wrapping himself around my neck like a fur muffler. Here... I.... GO!!!!

     Reality bent and warped, as well as the computer screen, which suddenly glowed brighter than anything else in the room or in the area. Alex and Star soon found themselves flying through cyberspace, passing data and information at the speed of light.
     “I’m sure glad mom decided to let me get that T-3 line installed in my room,” Alex commented as he sailed past data on a 28.8 modem line, “This is like a bajillion times faster than my old modem.”
     “I’m surprised she consented to that,” Star said as he loosened up, “I mean, what did you say to convince her to let you get it?”
     “I told her I’d pay for it out of my paychecks every month.”
     Star sighed. “It figures. Did you bring what the others asked you to bring?”
     Alex looked a little shocked, and when his guardian began to scold him he grinned and said, “Of course I have it. Unless you’ve forgotten, my cape houses a few interdimensional pockets to sub space. I have half of the picnic food in one of the pockets, and some of the other supplies in the others.”
     “You’re one in a million,” Star sighed. A moment later reality bent, warped, and belched again, spitting the pair out in the middle of a field. Behind them a tv screen glowed and showed Alex’s room through his computer screen.
     “We’re heeeeeere,” Alex called to nobody in particular. When he was met by silence he sighed and said, “I guess we’re the first ones here.”
     A California roll came to a stop at his feet and a moment later he found himself being bowled over by Hawkmon. The impact caused his vision to blur for a moment, and when his vision cleared he was staring into Yolei’s face.
     “Hello mister Alex,” she said, offering her hand to him, “I’m sorry about the collision. Armadillomon hasn’t learned about not throwing food yet.”
     “And Hawkmon hasn’t learned not to chase rolling food I see,” he said as Yolei helped him to his feet. She giggled and blushed an embarrassed shade of red.
     “That we’re still working on,” she said, looking over at Hawkmon, who was conversing with Star about some of the latest developments in digivolution and whatnot.
     From the woods behind them came voices calling out for Yolei and Hawkmon. A moment later Kari, TK, Davis, Cody, and their digimon stepped into the clearing.
     “Hey Yolei, who’s this weirdo?” Davis asked, pointing at Alex. Sweat drops went up all around as Davis made a complete butt of himself once again.
     “How soon you’ve forgotten, Davis,” TK said, “remember Alex, the spell caster extrordinair I’ve told you about and who’s been emailing us for the past couple of months to set up this picnic.”
     “This nut is the person you’ve been talking about?”
     Alex began to fume, one of the talisman bracelets on his left wrist glowing a strange golden color. The one around his right wrist glowed silver, and from them came his crest and tag.
     “Davis, you insulted the spell caster,” Kari said, indicating Alex and the crest he was holding, “he’s the one who carries the crest of Soul, the one that governs magic and all things mystical.”
     “Which reminds me,” TK said, reaching into his shirt to pull out a certain pentacle talisman necklace. He untied it and held it out to Alex. “Thanks for loaning it to me. I don’t need it any more because I can cast the Demon Slayer without it.”
     “... Which Miss Lina still wants to learn,” Patamon said, “or have you forgotten the assorted arrow spells that have come through the e-mail recently?”
     A sweat drop formed on TK’s head. “Patamon.”
     “That explain why my mail server has complained about the file sizes being sent through them,” Alex sighed, “and also why my sent mail folder takes up half of my remaining disk space.”
     “Did you bring the food?” Veemon asked, “I’m hungry and all we’ve had are appetizers.”
     Alex reached into the folds of his cape and began to draw forth bag after bag of takeout food and groceries. From the other side he drew forth plates, silverware, chopsticks, and a stereo system for some kicking tunes.
     “Wow,” Cody said, “you thought of everything.”
     “And whatever he forgot he can just conjure up,” Star said.
     “It must be wonderful to be a sorcerer,” Davis said.
     “Or even a sorceress,” Yolei added.
     “Please, your praise is going to give me an inflated ego,” Alex said, chuckling. The others chuckled as well.
     “So, what did you bring for food?” Gatomon asked as she opened one of the grocery bags. She immediately smiled and dove right in, the bag rattling and rustling quite loudly as she devoured the contents.
     “What exactly was in the bag?” Yolei asked, picking through the remains once Gatomon had clawed her way out.
     “That might have been the Phoenix and Dragon special,” Alex replied, unclasping his cape, which slid to the ground in a soft heap of fabric. He plopped down upon this and opened other bags, distributing the food to the others. Wonderful smells filled the air as containers were opened, contents were spooned onto plates, and people and digimon drooled at the buffet.
     “Aren’t the others supposed to be coming at some point?” Star asked as he began to eat some of the mound of food before him.
     “Tai said he had soccer practice,” Kari said between mouthfuls of food, “and that he might stop by later.”
     “Matt has band rehearsal and then needs to see Joe and Izzy about something important,” TK added, “so those three may pop by for a bite or two to eat.”
     “Provided there is any food left,” Cody said, “this is so good. Where did you get this wonderful meal?”
     “Local Chinese food restaurant,” Alex replied, devouring a stick of beef teriyaki, “they have great food, and I work near there so it’s sort of convenient.”
     Silence followed for a few minutes as they ate, random sounds drifting to mingle with the sounds of eating. A loud howling from the woods behind them caused chaos to erupt as people leapt to their feet and dove for a hiding place or another person to cling to. Kari had her arms wrapped around TK’s neck, Davis had his arms around Kari, Yolei was hiding behind Cody, who just stared in awe towards the woods. Alex found himself with a black fur choker, a Patamon hat, and three other digimon behind him, with Gatomon standing in front of him with claws extended.
     “Come out you furball,” she growled, fur bristling, “come out and let me teach you about crashing our picnic!”
     A familiar wolf like head popped through the bushes and underbrush, followed by the rest of the body. Seated atop the creature was Matt, Izzy, Joe, and Tai. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they realized the howl had come from Garurumon.
     “Matt, you’re here,” TK said as he stood, “I thought you wouldn’t be here until later.”
     “Plans got changed,” Matt said, a touch of panic tingeing his voice, “we need to get out of here NOW!”
     “What’s going on?” Alex asked as Star untied himself from about his charge’s neck, “Matt, what’s wrong?”
     “We have trouble incoming,” Izzy said as he leapt from Garurumon’s back, “according to my calculations they’ll be here shortly.”
     “Who or what will be here shortly?” Yolei asked, helping to clean up the picnic area in a rapid manner.
     “You’ll see in just a moment,” Garurumon said, craning his head skyward, “Look.”
     Those on the ground looked towards the sky to see a flock of Chimeramon screaming through the air towards them. Several rays of flame struck the ground around them, burning the grass in circular patches.
     “I thought we got rid of him,” Patamon said in disbelief.
     “Well, it looks like he multiplied,” TK said, “which means we need to get rid of many more of him.”
     “So let’s do this all ready,” Davis said, taking his D terminal from his pocket, “ready Veemon?”
     “Shouldn’t we at least give Alex a chance to do something?” Veemon asked, “I mean, we have yet to see what he can do.”
     “What?! That fashion reject?!”
     Davis quickly found himself on the ground after being decked by Kari and Yolei.
     “Go get ‘em Mister Alex!” Yolei said.
     Alex sighed and said, “Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Several more beams of flame struck the ground around them, igniting a circle of fire around them.
     “We’re gonna get char broiled,” Gatomon said, stepping back to keep from having her whiskers singed off.
     Alex sighed once again and made a little gesture with his fingers. “Aqua Create.” Small fountains and springs of water of water formed amid the flames, a circle eventually forming around the group and extinguishing the flames. By now the Chimeramon were landing, surrounding the group with their sheer mass.
     “Now what do we do?” Yolei asked, looking up at one of their attackers, “they have us out gunned and out sized.”
     “But we have them outclassed,” Tai said, “time to knock them out of the park.”
     “Tai, you’re embarrassing yourself,” Kari said as the others remained quiet.
     “No time like the present for a transformation,” Star said, leaping from Alex’s shoulder. Alex’s digivice glowed as a bubble formed around the guardian, expanding before shattering. From that came the human Star, clad in glistening armor with a gleaming sword in hand.
     “Wow... that was impressive,” Yolei and Kari said in unison.
     “No kidding...” Davis, TK, and Cody added.
     “Time for my own transformation,” Alex said, hoisting his right hand aloft, the jewel in his ring shining a brilliant violet, “Saturn Star Power TRANSFORM!”
     Rings of ice and stone spanned his body, eventually shrinking inward before exploding in a flash of light. From the chaos stepped Warrior Saturn, glaive in hand.
     “From the silent star, Saturn, a defender of the light. I am the silent angel, the warrior of death and rebirth, Warrior Saturn.”
     Six jets of flame engulfed him, and all six jets were diverted by an energy dome coming from the glaive.
     “I was hoping to enjoy a simple picnic with some friends today, but you’re making my life a living hell,” Saturn grumbled as the dome expanded outward.
     “Time for us to lend a hand,” Hawkmon said, “Hawkmon armor digivolve to.... Halsemon, the wings of love.”
     “Armadillomon armor digivolve to... Digmon, the drill of knowledge.”
     Large sweat drops formed on Alex’s and Star’s heads.
     “I thought some of our team’s intros were bad...” Saturn said.
     “These are just embarrassing,” Star added.
     “Gatomon armor digivolve to... Nerfertimon, the angel of light.”
     “Patamon armor digivolve to... Pegasusmon, flying hope.”
     The Chimeramon turned their attention from Warrior and guardian to the armor clad digimon. The two in the energy dome sighed as their spotlight was stolen by the new digidestined.
     “Rosetta stone!”
     A large rock sailed past the Chimeramon and crashed into the ground near Saturn and Star. Saturn knelt down and read what was written on the stone, coming up with, “Beware of big rocks.”
     “What’s that supposed to mean?”
     A second stone slab sailed through the air, catching Saturn in the chest by crushing him into the ground.
     “Sorry Mister Alex,” Kari called, “didn’t see you there!”
     “That has GOT to hurt,” Davis said, wincing.
     “I’m going to make that monster pay for moving,” Saturn grumbled as he crushed the stone with his bare hands. He crawled out of the hole, leapt to the sky, and began to gather dark energy in the blade of his glaive.
     “I... think we should move back and call a strategic retreat,” Matt said when he saw this, “I know what type of power he’s wielding, and it hits you like several tons of bricks.”
     “That guy wields that sort of power?!” Davis stammered as he did an about face and ran like hell into the woods, “Get me outta here!”
     “What the heck is going on?” one of the Chimeramon demanded as the digidestined ran off into the woods.
     “...imbue my weapon with your energy!” Alex chanted, a large globe forming around the blade of his weapon. He swung downward and shouted, “Giga FLARE!”
     A dark thunderbolt crackled from his glaive, striking amidst the group of Chimeramon. The energy exploded into a shockwave of intense heat that utterly vaporized the Chimeramon and returned them to the data stream. Alex landed a moment later and struck a victory pose.
     "We got them!!" Davis said. A moment later three more flanks of Chimeramon were surrounding them. "I don't suppose we could talk this out?"
     "We're going to need a lot more power than we have," Yolei said, "Halsemon, use everything you've got to take them out!"
     "You too Pegasusmon," TK said, "Show them what an armor digivolved digimon can do."
     "Armor digivolving won't work against these things!!" Alex said as he scanned the Chimeramon with his visor and mini computer, "They're just too powerful right now!"
     "I don't think they're going to stop," Star said, "And if we don't do something we're all going to get cooked to a cinder!"
     'Looks like it's time for that spell I've been saving for just such an emergency,' Alex thought as he closed down his computer, "Silence beyond a deathly calm, quieter than the stillest air. A break in the action equal to the caster's maximum power. In thy great name let all motion be halted for a period of time. Let those who oppose us be destroyed where they stand. Time FREEZE!"
     The color from the surrounding area faded to pale hues as the spell took effect, stopping the Chimeramon in their tracks. Alex dropped to one knee from the drain the power invoked, only to have Star heave him over his shoulder and leap onto Garurumon's back.
     "We need to get out of here before his power runs out," Star said as the other digidestined took to the air on their digimons' backs. Garurumon took off through the woods. Several moments after that the spell ended and the Chimeramon woke to find that they were alone and their targets were gone.

     In Izzy's bedroom the computer screen glowed, and a moment later a large crowd of digidestined children were spewed forth, landing in a heap on the floor.
     "We really need to start putting pillows down on the floors of our rooms so that we don't land so hard when we come out of the digital world," Davis said.
     "At least you don't wind up at the bottom of the pile," DemiVeemon said, "This hurts."
     "Whoever has their stinky foot by my face is going to lose it in a moment," Alex muttered as he tried to untangle himself from the pile of bodies. He sighed a moment later, giving in to defeat, "O.K., I surrender to the almighty force of destiny that has once again kicked me in the butt and is now laughing at me."
     "It can't be that bad," Matt said.
     "Never say it can be that bad," Izzy said, "because something even worse may happen."
     "Like those Chimeramon?" Gatomon said, "They came out of nowhere and seemed more powerful than the one that Ken made."
     "We need to work up a plan of action," TK said, "that way we can be prepared."
     Alex had since seated himself at Izzy's laptop, hooked up his palmtop, and was transferring data between the two terminals. A map of the digital world popped up on both computer screens, several blinking areas visible amidst the outlines of mountains and whatnot. The blinks turned into pictures of the other six digimon, each one in a strategic area, but all around Primary Village.
     "Well this is interesting," he said after a moment, "Gomamon reports that there is something fishy going on in his area."
     "We are not going back to that area," Davis said, shivering, "its way too cold, even at this time of year."
     "Well, we might have to," Yolei said, looking over Alex's shoulder, "the source of this new evil is centered in that area."
     "Incoming e-mail from Ken," Izzy said, bumping Alex out of his seat so that he could read it. "He says that he and Wormmon will check out that area and that we're to meet them there."
     "Tell him we're working on a plan," Kari said as she began to pace around the room, "once we have something worked out we'll meet him there."
     "Also tell him to pack some warm clothes," Cody said, "he's going to need them."
     "E-mail has been sent," Izzy said, relinquishing his chair back to Alex, "So, now what?"

     An hour later the digidestined were still working on a plan, and were no closer to having one than they were an hour earlier. Mrs. Izumi had been worried about them and brought all of them something to eat. She was surprised to see Alex there, and Izzy had to stumble through introductions, since Star was also still in his human form. With the introductions out of the way Mrs. Izumi had made each person a bowl of Ramen with their choice of toppings and additives, upon which they were all eating.
     "So.... what is the weakness of a Chimeramon?" Tai asked, slurping on his noodles a moment later.
     "That is something we haven't worked out yet," Davis said, leaning back, "If we knew his weakness we wouldn't have to worry about this."
     "Well, what do we have in our arsenal?" Matt asked as he stretched out on Izzy's bed.
     "One spell thrower who is gold level, one who just barely made bronze level," TK said, "three digimon, two of which can achieve the mega level..."
     "Don't forget that Angemon and Angewomon can also go mega," Kari interrupted.
     "Right.... four who can reach mega, five who can armor digivolve, two golden digi eggs..."
     "And a partridge in a pear tree," Star said, yawning. He coughed a moment later from the broth that went down the wrong pipe.
     "I have a new spell I've been working on," Alex said. Thirteen pairs of eyes were instantly set upon him. "Well.... it's true. It's a triple elemental spell called Maelstrom. I've only dabbled with it recently, since the last time I tried it the spell wasn't complete. I had the calculations, but only part of an incantation, and without the incantation a spell isn't all that much."
     "So you have the incant now?" TK asked.
     "Yes, but I need a way to make it more powerful than it already is. As is, it's strong.... but not quite Zodiac in nature like some of my other spells, and it still needs a tremendous amount of power. Wait... I'll show you a simulation."
     He connected his palmtop to Izzy's desktop and uploaded a file.  A moment later the desktop's screen came to life with a full motion video of Alex casting the Maelstrom spell. The caster stood atop a craggy outcropping, the wind whipping his hair and cape about in a dramatic manner. A vortex of sorts formed around him as lightning crackled through the sky, winds tore through the area, and rain poured down in sheets. A moment later a tidal wave washed over the area and struck a large lizard monster with water, lightning, and gale force winds. The spell ended a moment later with the spell caster dropping to one knee to catch his breath and give a victory sign. When the water cleared out there was little left of the lizard creature except a nice set of alligator luggage.
     "Intense," Matt said, "you are the spell caster."
     "That was with the complete incantation," Alex sighed, "and even then it took a lot out of me. I still haven't perfected all of the calculations, so it's going to continue to drain me when I use it."
     "Why not try flying while casting it," Poromon said, "then you won't be in contact with the ground, but will be in contact with the air and water."
     "That just might work," Alex said, punching a few commands into Izzy's computer. A simulation came up of him trying the spell in that manner, this time against a Chimeramon. The tidal wave surged higher than previously, the lightning was more intense, and the winds threatened to tear the area apart with their force. The fluid combination of the three forces stunned all in the room as the digital Chimeramon was reduced to data, and the digital representation of Alex gave a victory sign and performed a victory dance.
     "Wow.... I guess we know what to do when we encounter a Chimeramon," Yolei said. A moment later the room filled with the sounds of pagers going off and the screen glowed, belching forth Ken and Wormmon.
     "Ken," Yolei said, noting that he was injured and that Wormmon didn't look too well either, "What happened to you?"
     "We lost," Ken said, "the Chimeramon in the ice fields are different from the ones I created and the ones you fought earlier. They are a combination of SkullMeramon, Frigimon, Gesomon, Ikkakumon, Angemon, and MetalSeadramon."
     "That's one powerful combination," Izzy said.
     "The digital world is getting rocked to its knees," Wormmon said, "you have to hurry."
     "Digiport is open," Davis said, holding his digivice up to the screen, "let's GO....."

             To Be Continued...